The invention relates to artificial heart pumps; and more particularly, to an oscillating vane-type pump having hermetic sealing between the motor and vane cavity.
The invention may be used in artificial heart pumps of the type which are implantable within the body of a person whose heart is being assisted or replaced by the artificial heart pump.
Artificial heart pumps, as heretofore known, have used elastomeric pumping diaphragms for exerting pressure on the blood to be pumped. Elastomeric components have been used exclusively till now because they eliminate blood damaging seals and because they simplify pump control by inherently operating under Starling's Law. The useful lifetime of such artificial heart pumps, however, is relatively short. The elastomeric diaphragms, which are subjected to extreme stress and distortion in the operation of such pumps, have characteristically been the life-limiting elements of such pumps. These known pumps utilize only one power stroke and one filling stroke per cycle.
It would be advantageous to provide an artificial heart pump which has a relatively long useful lifetime and which incorporates seals which do not excessively damage blood cells.
It would also be advantageous to provide a pump which has two power strokes per cycle, each one occurring during a simultaneous filling stroke for the next power stroke.